


I don't like that anyone would die to feel your touch

by divenire



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang is a cool dude, Ambassador Katara (Avatar), F/M, Fluff, Humor, Jealous Zuko (Avatar), eight year post the war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:42:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28591206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divenire/pseuds/divenire
Summary: Omashu hosts the Peace Council.Zuko gets jealous when the Northern Water Tribe Ambassador flirts with Katara.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 107





	1. I don't like that anyone would die to feel your touch

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!  
> I already posted this os in Italian, but I had fun translating it in English. I hope it's not a complete disaster - I hadn't written in years, but I love these two so much that I started writing again. It will probably follow a second part.  
> Thanks for reading!

Lights and colors filled the shining ballroom of Omashu's Royal Palace. The air was full of joy, people were twirling on the dance floor inebriated by the music, the laughter and the good wine of the Earth Kingdom.  
  
Fire Lord Zuko stood aside, a goblet of wine in his hand, watching the multitude of colors of the four nations merge into one dance. Peace, he thought. These were the colors of peace, still stable and lasting after eight years since the end of the war, thanks to their continuous efforts and sacrifices to keep it so.

Omashu hosted the Peace Council that year, an annual meeting between the leaders and ambassadors of the three nations and the newly formed Republic City to renew peace treaties and strengthen relations between the nations. For the other leaders it was a cause for celebration, for Zuko an opportunity to see his friends again.  
Sokka and Suki were dancing. He was in the vivid colors of his tribe, she in an elegant Earth Kingdom dress, free from her warrior's clothes, but no less fierce. Their smiles shone, as did the stone around Suki's neck. Not just a promise, but a sense of belonging.  
Toph hadn't been seen in a while, and Zuko promised himself he'd go check on her soon to make sure she didn't get into trouble, but at that moment he couldn't take his eyes off Katara. From Katara and that idiot Ambassador of the Northern Water Tribe. Katara, gorgeous in her blue clothes, a perfect match for her bright eyes and the necklace that hung around her neck, laughed at his jokes and conversed animatedly with him.  
Zuko felt the blood boiling in his veins, the threat of flames making its way to his fingertips.  
He had no right to feel this way. He and Katara were just friends. The fact that they had grown close over the past few years, since she had officially become the Southern Water Tribe's Ambassador, meant absolutely nothing. The fact that he felt his heart burst in his chest every time her ship touched the ground meant absolutely nothing.  
He tried to blame the wine. Two cups were not too many, but the wine of the Earth Kingdom was certainly heavier than the sweet wines of his Nation.  
At that moment Katara burst out laughing and, leaning forward, placed her hand on the boy's arm.  
Puah.  
"I'm starting to worry that that guy will catch fire soon." Said a voice at his side.  
Zuko looked away from that deplorable scene and turned to look at the Avatar in his shining orange robes, the blue tattoo on his bald head and a smile on his face.  
"Huh?"  
Aang pointed at Katara and the Ambassador with a movement of his head.  
"I've been there myself. It's the effect she does."  
Zuko felt the heat reach his cheeks. Idiot.  
The respect and the friendship he had for Aang were the main reason he would never dream of making a move towards Katara. It had been at least five years since Aang and Katara had ended their relationship, Aang had grown up, become a man, and he had remained on very good terms with Katara. But.  
Zuko shook his head.  
"I don't know what you're talking about, Aang."  
Aang, in response, burst out laughing.  
"It's so obvious that there's no point in trying to hide it."  
Zuko blushed even more. Was it really that obvious? He didn't think anyone suspected the slightest thing, he was convinced that he had been good at burying his feelings as deep as they could be buried.  
"It's okay, Zuko," Aang added. "It's been a long time and we've both moved on. It's not a crime if you like her, I can totally understand that."  
The last sentence was uttered with a slightly sad smile, of someone who was had been resigned for a very long time.  
"I owe you an apology." Zuko turned to him, bowing his head slightly. "I would never do anything that would somehow ruin our friendship."  
Aang shook his head and Katara's laughter brought both of their eyes back in her direction.  
Agni, that idiot is still there.  
"I'd much rather she was with you than with that guy. By the way, who is he?"  
Zuko let out a grunt of frustration.  
"The new ambassador from the North. A total idiot."  
"I can imagine."  
"No, you can't even imagine it! I dealt with him at the last Council in the Fire Nation and you should have seen him, Mr. Look at Me I've Got the Most Progressive Ideas in History! AH!"  
Zuko only realized at that moment that he had lost all forms of self-control and tried to pull himself together, putting on a neutral expression and trying to casually sip his wine.  
Sneaking a glance at Aang, he realized that the boy was snickering.  
"Do you want to see something funny?"  
Zuko looked at him worriedly.  
"Aang, I don't ... I don’t think it's exactly a good idea to get us in trouble."  
Aang assumed a serious expression.  
"Zuko, I assure you that all of this was taught to me by my Master Gyatso."  
Zuko brought a hand to his forehead, expecting the worst anyway. The boy next to him generated a small stream of air with one hand and, with a smooth, almost imperceptible movement, sent it in the direction of the buffet, which was behind Katara and the ambassador. A cream pastry flew toward them, ending up splattered on the ambassador's blue robe.  
"Spirits, I don't know what happened!" The boy screamed, grabbing the pastry with his hand, a shadow of blush on his face. "Excuse me, I'm going to go clean up. It will just take a moment." He added to Katara, running out of the room.  
Zuko and Aang began to laugh without restraint, stopping immediately when they saw Katara's narrowed gaze pointing in their direction and approaching them both with a threatening manner. The two boys tried to assume a serious expression and pretended to be deep in conversation.  
"As I was telling you, in the last meeting with the Earth King ..."  
"I don’t suppose either of you is responsible for what just happened." Katara interrupted them, her eyes reduced to two slits.  
Aang and Zuko looked at each other genuinely confused, then turned their gaze to the girl.  
"What are you talking about, Katara?" Zuko asked her casually.  
Katara crossed her arms, a small smile on her face. She turned her gaze to Aang and said, "You are literally the only person in the world who can bend air. So, unless pastries have learned to fly, I'm guessing you're responsible for Ambassador Soraq's cream tunic."  
"It could have been Momo." Aang said with a smile.  
Katara continued to stare at him as if Aang could be incinerated on the spot.  
Zuko brought both hands to his chest. "Ambassador Katara, how can you think that the Avatar here could be responsible for such misdeeds?"  
Katara's eyes locked into his. Zuko felt the ground beneath his feet be inexplicably less solid.  
Katara was about to point a finger at his chest, when a voice behind the girl's back interrupted them.  
"Ambassador Katara, here I am. All you had to do was use a little water ..." Soraq immediately interrupted himself when he realized who he was standing in front of.  
"Fire Lord Zuko! Avatar Aang! I hope you are having a wonderful evening."  
Aang bowed his head slightly as Zuko put on the most fake smile he could find.  
"Ambassador Soraq, what a pleasure to have you here with us!"  
Katara gave him a skeptical expression.  
"I beg your pardon, but I haven't seen Toph for too long, I'm going to go check where she’s gone.” Aang said, vanishing from the scene of the crime with a short bow.  
Zuko was left alone with Katara and the ambassador. He silently cursed his friend.  
"Before an inexplicable event interrupted us," Katara began with an eloquent smile. "The Ambassador was explaining to me how the Northern Tribe is finally breaking free of the old patriarchal patterns."  
Zuko smiled, looking at the boy's satisfied expression.  
"Is that so?" He asked, bringing a hand to his chin and pretending to be interest. "Now women can use waterbending to go fishing too?"  
Ouch. Katara had stepped on his foot.  
The change in music from the traditional ballads of the Earth Kingdom to a slow melody inviting the couples to hold hands diverted their attention from the speech and spared Zuko from a possible answer.  
Zuko saw Soraq turn to Katara and begin to raise his hand in a gesture that presaged an invitation to the dance floor.  
This was too much.  
"Ambassador Katara, may I have this dance?" He immediately said to her, taking her by the hand before she could even realize what had happened.  
Katara turned to Soraq, smiled quickly at him, and walked to the center of the room, hand in hand with Zuko.  
Zuko turned his to face him, let go of her hand to make a brief bow, then took it back and placed the free one on her hip.  
The two began to move slowly, following the rhythm of the music.  
Zuko didn't know where all that bravado came from; he was sure that all his confidence would dissolve into nothing as soon as he met Katara's eyes.  
He had never liked to dance, especially with everyone's eyes on him, but the girl's hand on his hip, the knowledge that he was just a breath away from her, and her scent in his nostrils seemed like a good compromise at that moment.  
"Can you explain what that was all about?" She asked him, her voice smaller than he remembered.  
"What are you talking about?"  
Zuko twirled her around, only to take her back into his arms. Katara looked up, locking her eyes with his. A grin appeared on her face.  
"You were jealous."  
Zuko felt his cheeks go up in flames.  
"What?"  
"You were jealous of the Ambassador, weren't you?"  
The boy closed his eyes for a moment before looking at her again. He found himself wondering, for the second time that night, if it was really so obvious.  
"I don't know what you're talking about." He managed to tell her, his voice rougher than he expected.  
But Katara smiled, this time a soft smile and a shy blush on her cheeks and, without adding anything else, she snuggled closer to him.  
Zuko smiled into her hair.


	2. You make everyone disappear (and cut me into pieces)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko walks Katara to her rooms.

Katara was sitting in the corner of the ballroom, watching the last of the people leave the room, taking away the chatter and laughter that had accompanied the evening. The silence was broken only by the clatter of cutlery and plates being taken away by the servants and by the cackling of Sokka and Toph as they kept laughing and arguing with each other.  
She was not paying much attention to her friends. She felt still light-headed, as if she had drunk litres of wine. Actually, it had only been two cups and she was trying to convince herself that the dizziness and the still vaguely accelerated heartbeat were not due to him.   
She did not know how long she and Zuko had been dancing. He had taken her by surprise, taking her by the hand and dragging her to the center of the room, everyone's eyes on them.  
Zuko's eyes only in hers.  
They had danced until the slow notes of the ballads had faded away, returning to more cheerful rhythms, the airy music that had brought them back to reality, like a spell suddenly broken. Katara still had her cheek resting on his chest, his perfume in her nostrils, his hands around her waist, close enough to each other to leave behind the line between friendship and that something else that had been hovering between them for months and that they both refused to acknowledge.  
People would talk and Katara had realised that the exact moment her eyes had left the boy's golden ones and she had briefly looked around her, taking in the existence of an outside world, a world that was not made up of Zuko and his scent, of the music and his hands, but of the many eyes on them and the chattering that she could hear in the brief interval of silence left by the musicians.  
And the fact that she and Zuko were too close.  
The boy must have been thinking the same thing, because suddenly his eyes widened and they both took a step back, smiling awkwardly and heading in different directions.  
Katara had taken refuge in a corner of the room, drinking the second cup she was now trying to blame for her own daze, and hoping with all her might that none of her friends would comment on the matter. No such luck, of course, as her brother had appeared at her side before she could even take a sip, with his irreverent comments and raised eyebrow.  
It was Sokka's voice that brought her back to reality.  
"Earth to Katara..."  
"Huh?"  
"Looks like someone enjoyed the wine..." Suki giggled and Katara blushed for no apparent reason.  
"I was saying," Sokka continued with a smile on his face. "We are going to sleep, there’s the last meeting tomorrow morning and Toph has made me drink way too much."  
"Hey!" Exclaimed the girl, giving him an affectionate (but no less painful) punch on the arm.  
"Ouch! You should stop doing that!" He complained, stroking the spot Toph had hit. Then he turned to Katara and added, "Are you coming too?"  
Katara was silent for a second too long, realising that her friends were staring at her. At that moment she saw Zuko approaching their table, finally free of the last dignitary who had entertained him on the doorstep.  
“I’ll stay for a while longer.”  
Sokka winked at her, a grin on his face.  
"Don't be late."  
"Alright, now go, bye! " She said and her brother had a huge grin on his face while he walked away hand in hand with Suki. Aang and Toph followed them, wishing her a good night and saying goodbye to Zuko who had arrived at her table in the meantime.  
The boy immediately sank into the chair, covering his face with his hands.  
"This Fire Lord life is destroying you."  
"Tell me about it ..."  
Zuko removed his hands from his eyes and smiled at her when his eyes landed on her. Katara returned the smile.  
"Did you have a good night?" He asked her, straightening up in his chair.  
Katara nodded.  
"I had the honor of dancing with the Fire Lord."  
The boy's cheeks coloured slightly, but the smile on his face did not fade, nor did the amusement in his eyes.  
"Word on the street is that he's a terrible dancer."  
"You shouldn't listen to what people say."  
At that point Zuko burst out laughing.  
"Perhaps it would be better not to..."  
Katara blushed unintentionally, thinking of the rumors that were currently circulating among the servants and nobles of all nations. Not that it was any different from what was being whispered in the corridors of the Fire Palace.  
"We really should go to sleep ..." She managed to stammer.  
"Can I walk with you?" He asked, getting up before her and offering her a hand. Katara accepted it, a shiver running down her spine when her fingers brushed against the boy's, a sudden emptiness when he let go of her. She nodded with a small smile.  
They walked down most of the corridor in silence. Katara wondered what Zuko was thinking about, if his mind kept coming back again and again to the memory of that night, to their intertwined fingers. She wondered if Zuko too couldn't help but think about her scent, her smile, her eyes.  
Damn it, Katara. She had never wanted to think about the complications that would result from admitting her feelings for Zuko. And that was definitely not the time to think about that, not as they walked through those dimly lit corridors, their hands brushing against each other as they swayed and ended up walking too close to each other.  
Katara looked at him out of the corner of her eye and realised that Zuko was staring at her, as if he wanted to say something, but could not find the courage to form words.  
Zuko hesitated for a second, before saying to her, uncertain in his steps as well as his words, "You and the Ambassador ... Um, you seem ... Intimate."  
Katara burst out laughing. In the dizziness of her emotions over the last two hours, she had completely forgotten about the ambassador's existence. She could not believe that Zuko actually thought that ...  
"We are not intimate at all."  
Katara only then realised that she had arrived at her room. She turned her back to the door and looked at Zuko, who still had that expression painted on his face.  
"You seemed pretty close during the evening." He mumbled finally. "And yesterday morning at the meeting too." He added. "And also at the last council meeting in the Fire Nation.”  
"You don't seem to like him very much."  
"He doesn't seem like a very smart guy."  
"That's not true! I think he is a very intelligent and kind person."  
Zuko rolled his eyes.  
"And anyway, we are both Ambassadors of the Water Tribes, it is important to maintain good relations. Diplomatic relations. " She added, noticing the boy's skeptical look, eyebrow furrowed and arms crossed over his chest.  
"I'm sure the Ambassador is interested in anything but diplomatic relations ..."  
Katara gave him a defiant look, a small grin painted on her face.  
"And what makes you think that, Your Highness?"  
Zuko blushed and Katara's smile softened as Zuko tried to stammer something about how Soraq hadn't taken his eyes off her for even a moment or how he had tried several times to be alone with her. He really was jealous of her.  
Katara sighed before looking into his eyes and found herself thinking about all those months they had spent working side by side in the Fire Palace. How Zuko had been her closest friend, great confidant and endless support. What an idiot she had been to think that all those feelings could be kept at bay, controlled as firmly as the water she bent.  
But that night, Katara felt too light-headed and her heart was beating too fast to listen to the little rational voice that kept whispering to her about what a bad idea this was. So she decided to ignore it, grabbing the fabric of Zuko's regalia, rising on tiptoe to reach the height of his lips. Zuko froze and closed his eyes, his breathing suddenly heavy.  
Just as she was about to close the distance between them, Katara heard footsteps behind her and let go of Zuko's robe, who in turn stepped back.  
A servant girl approached in their direction, red in the face and evidently embarrassed at having witnessed and interrupted that scene. She made a bow at the sight of Zuko, mumbling an apology and extending a letter to Katara.  
"My Lady, this is for you. From Ambassador Soraq."  
Katara raised an eyebrow and glanced at Zuko, whose face had suddenly turned gloomy.  
She noticed that he had taken another step backwards and felt again that absence which she had felt the moment he had let go of her hand before that night.  
As soon as Katara reached for the letter, the servant girl apologised again, made another bow and disappeared in the direction from which she had come.  
Katara turned the letter over in her hands before deciding to break the seal and open it.  
  
 _Dear Ambassador Katara,_  
 _the moon in the sky, symbol of our Tribes, brings my thoughts to you._  
 _I look forward to a walk in the gardens, if you would like to join me._  
 _Ambassador Soraq_  
  
"Well, I'd better go."  
Zuko's voice diverted her attention from the letter. The boy had a strange expression on his face, disappointed and bitter. Katara suspected he was fighting the urge to literally set the letter on fire and pick up where they left off. Or maybe it was what she wanted to happen.  
"Zuko ..."  
The boy gestured towards the letter. Another step backwards.  
"You'll have better things to do."  
It was Katara who took a step towards him, crumpling the letter in her hands and dropping it on the stone floor.  
"Sometimes you can be such an idiot, Your Highness."  
Before giving him time to respond, Katara grabbed Zuko's robe and drew him to her, sinking her free hand into his hair. A breath away from his mouth, she looked into his eyes for a final consent and Zuko closed the distance between them, pressing his own lips to hers. He encircled her waist with one arm, bringing his other hand to her cheek and then into her hair.  
When they parted, Katara felt the same dizziness she had felt after the dance. Her heart was beating faster in her chest this time.  
Zuko was still a breath away from her. Katara slid a hand over his face and caressed his scarred cheek. Zuko smiled, one hand still holding her, the other still stroking her hair.  
"Someone will be waiting for you..."  
He whispered into her lips, the corners of his mouth turned upwards and a new light in his eyes.  
Katara kissed him again.  
"Let him wait."  
They both laughed. And they kissed again.  
Katara couldn't remember the last time she had felt as light as she did that night. How she felt in his arms.  
"You know, a man in your position shouldn't antagonize important delegates from other nations ..." She teased him after a few moments of silence.  
"And a woman in your position should not jeopardize the good relations between two sister nations ..."  
Again, they laughed - it was like all they could do was laugh.  
"We really should rest." Zuko finally told her, loosening his grip around her waist.  
He leaned in to give her another kiss - which turned into another and another.  
"Yeah, we really should." Katara agreed, her breath short.  
Zuko turned away from her.  
Katara never wanted to let him go, but the emptiness she felt was no longer filled with sadness, but with the desire to have him forever.  
"Good night, Katara."  
"Good night, Zuko."  
Before walking down the hallway, Zuko picked up the crumpled letter dropped by the girl.  
"Do you want to go on the date with the Ambassador?" She joked, but Zuko grinned and set the note on fire.  
"Zuko!"  
The boy shrugged as the bright flames in his hands consumed the paper.  
"Now you can tell him that you never received this letter."  
Zuko returned to her side to give her one last kiss on the cheek and walked down the corridor.  
Katara shook her head, smiling as she opened the door to her room, her head still light, her heart beating even faster.  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> I managed to finish and translate the second and last chapter, too. Again, I hope it's not a complete disaster - I'm a bit rusty with wiriting, in general and I never actually translated anything into another language. 
> 
> Thank you for reading and thank you for the kudos to the first chapter! They really made my day!


End file.
